


Five things members of S.H.I.E.L.D. have thought about Steve and/or Tony.

by duc



Category: Avengers (Comic)
Genre: 5 Things, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-08
Updated: 2012-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-29 05:46:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/316453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duc/pseuds/duc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>written for the Cap_ironman fic exchange.</p><p>What it says on the tin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five things members of S.H.I.E.L.D. have thought about Steve and/or Tony.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Celia](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Celia).



> Beta: , who was there and plotted right down with me when this story finally clicked for me, continued to help me work it out and who kindly made it better.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, Marvel does.
> 
> This fic is set in 616-ish verse and I’m not kidding, so if things are not really like in canon you know why. I was inspired by a couple of other verses, not to mention fanon and may have shamelessly stolen a quote or two. Also you’re free to choose how much happened between Civil War and Avenger Prime.

**Five things members of S.H.I.E.L.D have thought about Steve and/or Tony.**

 **1/ Kids got heart, ~~bless them~~. (Dum Dum Dugan, sub-director of S.H.I.E.L.D.)**

                Dugan will give the “Avengers” one thing as he watches them rush a three story high tentacle robot: they’ve got heart, no one can deny that. But how about they got the hell outta here? Not that Dugan has anything against them, no. They’ve got good intentions and all. But god, they’re green, greener than the Absinthe Nick had made him try in Spain.

He fought with Captain America back in WWII and he respected the hell out of the man.  One of the best soldiers, not to mention one of the best men period, Dugan had ever met. And he would gladly have him watch his back any day of the week.

As part of a S.H.I.E.L.D squad that is.

Because the best thing about Cap is also the worst thing about Cap. He had always been idealistic, way too idealistic for a man that had seen what he had seen. He needs balance and Dugan doubted the rest of the “Avengers” would provide it.

The whole group oozes eagerness like a basket of puppies, all too-big paws, uncoordinated limbs and enthusiasm. Even Tony Stark, their sponsor. Dugan knows him from the countless projects Stark Industries had done for S.H.I.E.L.D. and he knows that under the suave and cynical businessman he likes to project the kid’s got an idealistic steak as wide as Cap’s. And he looks as if he’s in a mood to indulge it, what with him shutting down his weapon production and all.

Ducking a flying lamppost, Dugan goes through them in his head.

Thor could probably make a good operative. Guy has enough power to make the question of whether or not he's actually the god he claims to be irrelevant. Properly directed, he could be an asset to any team he was assigned to. Dugan can think of hundreds of situations having what amounted to a human tank immune to everything and the kitchen sink with the power to summon lightning would have resolved in a snap (one goddamn lizard comes to mind). But he seems like the run-straight-at-your-opponent-screaming-like-a-madman type. And from Dugan’s knowledge of History, the Romans had shown how limited that approach was during the Gaul wars.  

Iron Man might be good, there’s just not enough known about him to tell, beyond the fact that Stark usually has a knack for finding gems, Pym is a brilliant scientist, but Dugan can’t understand why the hell he’s chosen to go in the field and the Van Dyne girl has got guts and not much else going for her. At best, her only training is bi-weekly Judo class.

No, Dugan thinks as he gives order to fire the bazooka, better the lot of them either disband and get properly trained or leave the fighting to the professionals. Dungan is sure they could do a lot of good in relief missions.

Whatever the robot is made off, Dugan wants a sample. The missile doesn’t even leave a scratch.

“I don’t think anything we have is going to work,” Iron Man’s computerised voice yells. “How about plan B?” He sends a repulsor blast at the thing that doesn’t do anything more than push it back a few feet.

“Roger that,” Captain America shouts. “Death Star”

Dugan wonder if that is some kind of signal, but the Avengers continue to do what they have been doing, which is generally making as much of a nuisance of themselves to the robot as they can. It’s not going to bring it down, but Dugan will admit it distracts it from destroying buildings.

Then the head starts to spark and it loses coordination. A small form shoots out of it just before there's a muffled boom and it freezes completely, black smoke pouring out of every joint.

The Avengers and a few S.H.I.E.L.D agents burst into cheers. The small form grows to human size and Wasp curtsies to her teammates.

Dugan watches, dumfounded. “What the Hell is ‘Death Star’?” he asks finally.

Johnson, one of the newest agents raises his hand timidly. “Like in Star Wars. The attack station? The one they blow up from the inside in the first and third one?”

Next to the fallen robot, the Wasp is high-fiving Iron Man.

“I’ll be damned.”

 

 **2/ Sorry, but I’m gonna win. (Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D.)**

Nick sits in front of the computer terminal. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s lawyers are drafting the opening salve but he figures that if he’s going to go to war against Tony he may owe him a personal message.

It’s business, nothing more.

He’s not doing it lightly, contrary to popular belief. Nick never burns bridges without thinking it through, and this isn't a bridge he's particularly happy about burning; Tony is the kind of genius that only comes once a century and over the years, he has given S.H.I.E.L.D a lot of very nice goodies. The Helicarrier itself is almost priceless and Nick’s not under any illusions about the likeliness of Tony ever making things for them again. Oh, they might get a contract a few years down the line, but for the work of the myriad of scientists SI employs, not the full on attention of Tony Stark himself. But the facts are the facts: right now, they need Stark Industries to be making weapons more than they need Tony’s talent.

He’s sorry it’s going to mess with the kid, the kind of messing that’s not funny when you actually like the person. And he likes Tony; he’s a friendly little freak of nature (which Nick means in the best possible way).

No, Nick won’t get any joy out of taking Stark Industries away from Tony. But he’ll do it, and he’ll succeed. Tony will fight him tooth and claw, of that, Nick has no doubt. And more likely than not, he’ll give Nick a damn good fight. He’s is a better businessman than he likes to appear. He has to be to have managed to make his weapon manufacturing company stop making weapon (backing out of more than half of his current contracts) without tanking it. And he surrounds himself with loyal people who are even better.

But at the end of the day Nick has been doing this shit longer than either Tony, Pepper Potts or even most of SI’s board of directors have been alive. They’ll make him work at it, they might even get close to shaking him off, but he’s older, wiser and a good sight more ruthless. He’ll win.

With a smile, Nick presses the record button.

 

 **3/ they’re never going to last. (agent Michael Smith, S.H.I.E.L.D medical division)**

Captain America is dating Tony Stark.

Michael still can’t believe it. Rumors have been floating for a while, but he just got confirmation from Cameron who heard it from agent Burk who got it from one of the field agents that went to help with the Red Zone clean up.

Propping his feet on his desk, Michael is still processing it. It’s just so weird. Not that Cap likes men. There is nothing wrong with being gay,  so why wouldn’t Captain America be gay. But Stark? They don’t go together at all. They’re like the opposite of each other. Yeah, there is one thing for sure...

“They’re never going to last.”

Lily turns her chair toward him. They’re both on duty at the Hellicarrier’s infirmary while everybody is over at Mount Rushemore. Things are dead, the carrier almost empty so she understands what he’s saying instantly. It’s not like there is many topics to choose from.

“Really? You think so?”

“What? You don’t?”

“I don’t know.”

“Lily, they have nothing in common.”

“They’re both Avengers,” she offers.

Because the general public may be under the impression that Iron Man is Stark’s “bodyguard” but in the superhero community it’s pretty well known Stark’s the one under the armor.

“Ok, that one thing. But Cap is like the ultimate all American guy and Stark is a playboy billionaire.” A thought suddenly crosses his mind. “How do we even know Stark isn't just using him for sex? You know, one more notch in his busy bedpost. The opportunity to brag he’s bagged Captain America?”

Lily frowns. “He did risk his life to give Cap mouth to mouth. Cameron says they still have him in the ICU over there, apparently it was a close call.”

Michael had completely forgotten about that. “Okay,” He revises. “They love each other. But we all know that grand gestures and love is not enough if you don’t have a solid base in your everyday life. You know Cap wants a simple life. And Stark is all Ferraris and Rolex and wild, wild sex if half of what they say in the tabloids is to be believed. They’re going to clash and it’s going to get old.”

He nods to himself, already seeing it, the two men chaffing under the other’s lifestyle. Stark partying until all hours and Cap waiting impatiently at home or Cap dragging Stark to all kind of wholesome stuff (like hiking, or picnics) and Stark’s patience wearing thin.

Plus, now that Lily reminds him. They’re both on the Avengers. A relationship is going to create a lot of conflicts of interest and all.

No, he doesn’t understand what Cap was thinking at all and tells Lily so.

“…Especially when he could have someone like agent Carter. I know they were on the outs, but that wasn’t the first time, right? So they could get back together.”

Lily nods. “Yeah, maybe they will when…”

She suddenly blanches and trails off. Michael turns and sees agent Carter entering the room. They both sit there, frozen like deer in headlights. Agent Carter doesn’t even stop, just rolls her eyes and goes straight for the drug store. Non-medical personnel aren't allowed to take drugs from it but they all do it anyway. Now they’re going to have to go fend her off.

 

He really hopes she hasn’t overheard them.

 

 **4/ Captain America is human. Who would have thought? (agent Jessica Drew, official Avenger liaison, Hydra double agent)**

“… Would you cheer for those arrogant, Bronx…”

Captain America stands for truth, justice and freedom. Everyone knows that. Everyone _agrees_ on that. Even Hydra, though it viewed it as a source of disdain, never denied he is the embodiment of everything ~~America~~ most democratic countries try to be. Its values given life.

Captain America is above mundane pettiness. He does not blow up at a teammate over sports. He does not glare sulkily (sulkily, really?) at the screen. He does not mumble unpleasant things under his breath.

“I didn't know you find baseball so fascinating.”

Jessica startles and turns to see Tony leaning against the door.

“If you’re such a fan I could get you a seasonal pass,” he smirks.

Jessica should have rolled her eyes, but she was too busy staring at Cap again to do it. His mumbling has grown into derogatory comments aimed at the players on the screen (was that a dig at the batter’s performance in bed?).

“Peter just said ‘Go Yankees’,” She says a bit incredulously. If she looks at it objectively, there isn’t that much heat in his behavior, not any more than in your regular sports fan (the ones who understand it’s a game), but it is so _petty_ she’s still blown away. If she had imagined him as a baseball fan she would have pictured him as the respectful type that nods at the opposite team when they win and sheepishly admits the better team won, and his would do better next time. Not that. What does he even have against the Yankees? He lived in New York all his life, why the hell would he prefer the Red Socks to them?

“I know, right? How un-New Yorker of him,” Tony snickers. Jessica hadn’t noticed she had said the last part out loud. He straightens up and calls out “Hey, Steve! How un...”

“Now, Tony. Don’t set him off, that’s not nice,” Carol says around a mouthful of Jarvis’ chocolate chips cookies. “The Yankees and the Dodgers have this long standing rivalry.” She explains to Jessica.

Jessica reviews her meager knowledge of baseball teams. “The Los Angeles Dodgers?”

“As of 1958, yes,” Tony drawls. “But before that they were the Brooklyn Dodgers.”

Oh. _Oh._

Tony smiles again but this time the smile is more fond than anything. “There was this year where he would go to a match every once in a while. Sat smack damn in the middle of the hard-core Yankees fan section and cheered for whoever was playing against them. Booed the Yankees, heckled the players, the whole nine yards.”

Jessica tries to fit that into her world view. It's hard, even with the supporting evidence she just witnessed. Once or twice, another agent (from S.H.I.E.L.D., she only has limited contact with Hydra now that she is officially “undercover”) had asked her what it was like to be an Avenger, to work with Captain America and if he really is what he's made out to be.

The short answer is yes. Captain America _is_ every bit as good as they say he is. But Jessica is starting to realise there is a longer answer. It goes like this: Steve is human. He’s just a man who tries to always do the right thing, no matter what, to take everyone’s feelings in consideration, to be the best he can be and succeeds most often than not, but he doesn’t always, and sometimes, he’s not even trying very hard.

Somehow she likes it better.

She goes to sit on the other end of the couch. The Yankees batter misses the ball for the third time and is out. She cheers right along with Steve.

 

 **5/ They’re back together? _Thank god_ (Maria Hill, former sub-director of S.H.I.E.L.D.)**

Maria raises her head from her laptop when she hears the first Avengers come into the meeting room. Captain America, of course, and Iron Man, they brush their hands together as they sit in a way they probably think is subtle.

Once upon a time, Maria had had Strong Opinions on fraternisation and, to a lesser extent, work relationships. Now however, her reaction to learning Stark and Rogers are back together isn't scorn or disgust but _thank you, baby Jesus_.  

Spider-Man skids in last (from the fucking ceiling) and Maria rises and starts the briefing. As she brings up the video footage of the current threat she can’t help but looking back at stark and Rogers.

It makes her wince when she thinks about how far she’s fallen, just a year or two ago…  But she was in close quarters with Stark all through Civil War (what a fucked up name for a superhero spat, but in the end it stuck because it fit, brothers against brothers and all that shit) and had had to deal with him moping like a teenager because he and his boyfriend weren't talking.  

Fun times. But all in all she by far prefers to think about that particular barrel of laughs than about what happened after Rogers… went away. ( _Why_ had she left the Marines, again?) Maybe it was naïve of her, but prior to that, she had honestly believed that people deciding to follow their loved ones into death because they couldn’t live without them only happened in fiction. And now that he had shown her wrong? She tried to forget the whole mess had even happened.

So in short? Stark was a pain in the ass when he and Rogers were on the outs. That on its own was bad enough, but then she had ended up working with Mister Stars-and-Stripes to get Stark out of his Sleeping Beauty impression and he had turned out to be just. As. Bad. Bemoaning Stark’s absence one minute and cursing him the next.

It got better after the battle for Asgard, so she had hoped they could behave like reasonable adults but apparently it wasn't enough. They were nominally on the same side and speaking to each other, but there was still a tension, a stiffness (she was not calling it the Mom-and-Dad-are-fighting effect. Fuck you, Spider-Man), that buzzed any time they were in the same room (or when someone mentioned one in the other’s hearing).

 It had gotten to the point where she had fantasized about locking them in a closet until they fought it out. After all, shoving them into the Asgardian Hell dimension (or whatever the hell it was) had gotten them halfway there, maybe shoving them in a closet would finish the job. She hadn’t even cared if they made it out alive or not so long as they stopped dragging everyone down.

No, that wasn’t true, she had cared. They had jobs to do and they needed those jobs done. But no one ever claimed fantasies were rational.

In the end though, no drastic action was needed. One day, they were just making googly eyes at each other again. She didn't know what had happened—and she did not want to—but they were back to being in synch, that weird mix of married couple and brother in arms, like the other is an extension of their body. And she grudgingly admits that they make a very efficient unit, for all it had originally grated on her nerves before Civil War. Then it had seemed both like a flaunting their unprofessionalness and injudicious display of team spirit for a team that had crashed and burned spectacularly just months before.

Around the meeting table everyone is now giving their two cents, interrupting each other or even honest-to-god raising their hands like first graders.

“Ah!”

 Stark suddenly rests his forearms on the table and looks sideway at Rogers.

 Rogers looks back and something happens and he suddenly smiles, eyes calculating. “Yeah,” he nods. “That could work.”

“Hey, lovebirds!” Maria snaps. “Share with the class.

 


End file.
